Riyadh — The National Center for Non-Profit Sector has approved the establishment of the Theatre Laboratory Association for Studies and Research, a body created to support Saudi theatre and the performing arts through academic study, research, and systematic criticism. The approval places a dedicated research entity inside the Kingdom’s cultural landscape, one whose stated purpose is not performance alone but the documentation and critical examination of a field that has long been discussed more in practice than on paper. The association says its work will proceed in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 and the strategy of the Ministry of Culture. For a sector that depends on memory as much as on stages, what does it mean when the paperwork of a discipline finally catches up with its performances?
The approval was announced by the National Center for Non-Profit Sector, according to the Saudi Press Agency. SPA reported that the association’s board of directors has been formed, with Abbas Ahmed Al-Hayek as chairman, Nada Al-Ghamdi as vice-chairperson, and Amira Musa Al-Juhani, Dalal Al-Khalidi and Abdulwahab Al-Fandi as members. The composition of the board brings together a chair, a vice-chair and three members, a structure that will guide the association’s first phase of activity. With the board now seated, the question turns to how quickly a research body can move from formation to output.
Al-Hayek thanked the National Center for Non-Profit Sector and the Ministry of Culture for supporting cultural entities. He affirmed the association’s commitment to advancing critical studies and strengthening the presence of Saudi theatre locally and internationally. That dual aim — critical studies at home, presence abroad — suggests the association sees research and reputation as connected rather than separate pursuits. Can a theatre tradition be strengthened internationally without first being thoroughly studied and documented at home?
The association’s objectives are specific. It aims to document the history of Saudi theatre and the performing arts, establish a database for researchers, support critical studies and research, and develop the capabilities of theatre professionals and independent theatre troupes. Each of these tasks addresses a different gap: history addresses memory, the database addresses access, critical studies address analysis, and capability development addresses people. Together they describe an institution that intends to work on the record of Saudi theatre as well as its future practitioners. Which of these four tasks is the most urgent for a field still building its written archive?
The association also seeks to build partnerships with cultural and educational institutions and to facilitate the exchange of expertise among theatre practitioners, critics and researchers. Partnerships of this kind would connect the association to universities, cultural bodies and schools, while the exchange of expertise would move knowledge between those who make theatre, those who write about it and those who study it. The association’s founding members include theatre professionals and enthusiasts, a mix that places practical experience alongside scholarly interest. Dr. Hatem Tlili of Tunisia and Khalid Al-Baz will serve as advisors. What does the involvement of an advisor from Tunisia signal about the association’s view of regional expertise in theatre research?
The association plans to launch several initiatives and projects during the remainder of this year and in 2027. That timeline covers the current year’s remaining months and the whole of the following year, giving the board a defined window in which to translate its objectives into programs. The announcement did not specify the number of initiatives, their names, their budgets or their locations. It also did not state a date for the first project or describe what form the database for researchers will take. For observers of Saudi theatre, the absence of those details leaves the practical shape of the coming year open. How much can be read into a timeline that names years but not dates?
Documentation, Criticism and the Work Ahead
The decision to establish the association rests with the National Center for Non-Profit Sector, which approved the body. The Ministry of Culture’s strategy is cited as the framework the association will follow, alongside the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030. The association’s stated commitment to systematic criticism places it in a space that is distinct from production: criticism requires distance, comparison and a body of reference material. Building that reference material is precisely what the documentation and database aims describe. If criticism depends on archives, does the creation of an archive change what criticism in Saudi theatre can say?
The association’s interest in independent theatre troupes is notable within its capability-development aim. Independent troupes often operate outside large institutions, and their needs differ from those of established companies. By naming them alongside theatre professionals, the association signals that its support is intended to reach practitioners across the field’s structure. The exchange of expertise among practitioners, critics and researchers would, if realized, create a loop in which performance informs writing and writing informs teaching. What would such a loop change for a young director or playwright working outside the main institutions?
The board’s formation gives the association a defined leadership group. Abbas Ahmed Al-Hayek as chairman and Nada Al-Ghamdi as vice-chairperson lead a body that also includes Amira Musa Al-Juhani, Dalal Al-Khalidi and Abdulwahab Al-Fandi as members. Al-Hayek’s statement of thanks to the National Center for Non-Profit Sector and the Ministry of Culture reflects the licensing and support structure within which the association was approved. The founding members, described as theatre professionals and enthusiasts, provide the association’s initial human base. With advisors Dr. Hatem Tlili of Tunisia and Khalid Al-Baz attached, the association has drawn on expertise from within the Kingdom and from the wider region. How does a board of five, supported by two advisors, set priorities for a field as broad as theatre and the performing arts?
The association’s name — Theatre Laboratory Association for Studies and Research — places the idea of a laboratory at its center. A laboratory implies experiment, method and repeatable inquiry rather than one-off events. Applied to theatre, that framing suggests the association intends to treat research as an ongoing process, with studies, databases and criticism as its instruments. The objectives it has announced — documenting history, building a database, supporting critical studies, developing capabilities, forming partnerships and exchanging expertise — are the components of that process. Which of these instruments will produce the first visible result, and who will be able to use it?
The announcement arrives with a set of plans that extend into 2027 but without the specific initiatives named. The source did not include the number of projects, their titles, their funding, their venues or the names of any partner institutions. It also did not say when the database for researchers would become available or how researchers would access it. Those omissions are not unusual at the establishment stage, when a board has been formed but programs have not yet been announced. For a field that has waited for a dedicated research body, the approval itself is the news, and the details are the next chapter. What should the association publish first: a history, a database, or a critical study?
Al-Hayek’s affirmation that the association will advance critical studies and strengthen the presence of Saudi theatre locally and internationally ties the domestic and external ambitions together. Strengthening presence internationally can take many forms, from participation in festivals to the circulation of research and criticism beyond the Kingdom. The association’s stated tools — documentation, databases, studies, partnerships and expertise exchange — are the tools of visibility as much as of scholarship. Whether they produce international presence will depend on execution. Can a research association, rather than a production company, change how Saudi theatre is seen abroad?
The Ministry of Culture’s strategy is named as a guiding framework, and Saudi Vision 2030’s objectives are cited as well. The National Center for Non-Profit Sector’s approval gives the association its legal footing within the nonprofit sector. Together, these three references — the center, the ministry and the Vision — describe the institutional context in which the association will operate. Its founding members, its board and its advisors are the people who will work within that context. What does it take for a nonprofit cultural association to sustain research work over years rather than months?
The association’s plan to document the history of Saudi theatre and the performing arts implies that such a history is not yet fully assembled in one place. A database for researchers implies that access to material is currently scattered. Support for critical studies implies that criticism needs institutional backing to develop. Development of capabilities implies that practitioners and independent troupes have training needs the association intends to address. Each objective answers a condition that the association’s founders evidently identified. Which of these conditions has been the biggest obstacle for Saudi theatre researchers until now?
Partnerships with cultural and educational institutions would give the association reach into schools, universities and cultural organizations. The exchange of expertise among practitioners, critics and researchers would give those partnerships content. The association’s founding members include both professionals and enthusiasts, which suggests a membership base that spans careers and avocations. The advisors, Dr. Hatem Tlili of Tunisia and Khalid Al-Baz, add external and internal perspectives respectively. How should an association balance the priorities of working professionals against those of researchers and critics when setting its agenda?
The initiatives and projects planned for the remainder of this year and for 2027 will be the first test of the association’s objectives. The source did not describe them, name them or date them. It did not say how many there will be or where they will take place. It also did not indicate whether they will be research outputs, training programs, documentation projects or partnerships. What is clear from the announcement is the structure: an approved association, a formed board, named advisors, stated objectives and a two-year horizon. For those who follow Saudi theatre, the next announcement will matter as much as this one. What would you want the association’s first project to be?
Who approved the establishment of the Theatre Laboratory Association for Studies and Research? The National Center for Non-Profit Sector approved the establishment of the association, according to SPA. The association says its work will proceed in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 and the strategy of the Ministry of Culture. The approval gives the body its footing within the nonprofit sector, and the association’s stated purpose is to support Saudi theatre and the performing arts through academic study, research and systematic criticism. Its founding members include theatre professionals and enthusiasts.
Who are the members of the association’s board of directors? SPA reported that the board has been formed with Abbas Ahmed Al-Hayek as chairman, Nada Al-Ghamdi as vice-chairperson, and Amira Musa Al-Juhani, Dalal Al-Khalidi and Abdulwahab Al-Fandi as members. Al-Hayek thanked the National Center for Non-Profit Sector and the Ministry of Culture for supporting cultural entities, and affirmed the association’s commitment to advancing critical studies and strengthening the presence of Saudi theatre locally and internationally. Dr. Hatem Tlili of Tunisia and Khalid Al-Baz will serve as advisors.
What are the association’s main objectives? The association aims to document the history of Saudi theatre and the performing arts, establish a database for researchers, support critical studies and research, and develop the capabilities of theatre professionals and independent theatre troupes. It also seeks to build partnerships with cultural and educational institutions and to facilitate the exchange of expertise among theatre practitioners, critics and researchers. These objectives were set out in the SPA report on the establishment approval, alongside the association’s stated alignment with Saudi Vision 2030 and the Ministry of Culture’s strategy.
When does the association plan to launch its initiatives and projects? The association plans to launch several initiatives and projects during the remainder of this year and in 2027, according to SPA. The announcement did not specify the number of initiatives, their names, their budgets, their locations or a date for the first project. It also did not describe the form the database for researchers will take or when it will become available. The board has been formed, and the founding members include theatre professionals and enthusiasts, with two advisors attached.
Who will serve as advisors to the association? Dr. Hatem Tlili of Tunisia and Khalid Al-Baz will serve as advisors, SPA reported. Their involvement places regional and internal expertise alongside the board, which is chaired by Abbas Ahmed Al-Hayek with Nada Al-Ghamdi as vice-chairperson and Amira Musa Al-Juhani, Dalal Al-Khalidi and Abdulwahab Al-Fandi as members. The association’s founding members include theatre professionals and enthusiasts, and the body says it will facilitate the exchange of expertise among theatre practitioners, critics and researchers.